DURHAM, NC — (April 17, 2018) —MetaMetrics today unveiled two sets of online resource centers developed to support educators and parents as they interpret student test scores. The company, which is the developer of The Lexile Framework for Reading and The Quantile Framework for Mathematics, created the centers as part of its ongoing commitment to providing tools and resources for making test scores actionable, putting students on the path to school, college and career success.

In addition to the new resource centers, MetaMetrics is hosting a free webinar for educators to provide more background and further tips on interpreting test scores and multiple measures. The Managing Lexile & Quantile Measures from Different Sources webinar will be held on Wednesday, May 9 at 3 pm EDT, featuring MetaMetrics’ Chief Product Officer, Alistair Van Moere, Ph.D.

“When a student gets a Lexile or Quantile measure from a test, that provides educators and parents with valuable information for differentiating instruction and accelerating achievement,” said Malbert Smith III, Ph.D., CEO, president and co-founder of MetaMetrics. “However, at times, student results vary from test to test and become confusing to understand. It is important to remember that just like a person’s blood pressure can fluctuate depending on when it is taken, different factors can impact a student’s test results.”

The challenge of managing and understanding multiple student measures happens every day in classrooms and homes around the country. Students take an interim assessment and receive a Lexile measure for reading or a Quantile measure for mathematics. Then, a few weeks later, they take an end-of-course or other high-stakes assessment and there can be a significant difference – 100 points or more – in their measures.

Test scores are an estimate of a student’s ability. They are one data point at one point in time. Home and school factors such as getting a good night’s sleep the night before the test or eating a healthy breakfast on test day can impact student performance on a test. In addition, different assessment types can produce different test results. Students often perform differently on a 20-minute interim assessment than on a longer summative test that covers a broad range of curriculum, allowing students of all abilities to answer at least some questions.

Materials in the Managing Multiple Measures Resource Centers for Educators include an informational flyer, answers to frequently asked questions and an archive copy of the educator webinar. In addition, a new Managing Multiple Measures tool in the resource centers will help educators determine which measure to use when encountering conflicting results. To access the Lexile Managing Multiple Measures Resource Center, visit lexile.com/managing-multiple-measures. To access the Quantile Managing Multiple Measures Resource Center, visit quantiles.com/managing-mulitple-measures.

The Lexile and Quantile Frameworks place both the student and instructional materials on the same scale to match the learner with math and reading resources at the appropriate ability level. A scientific approach to reading measurement, the Lexile Framework matches readers to text. The Lexile Framework involves a scale for measuring both the reading abilities of students and the text complexity of materials they encounter. Similar to the Lexile Framework, the Quantile Framework matches students with instructional materials by measuring the mathematical ability of a student and the complexity of mathematical skills and concepts on the same developmental scale.